House of Representatives Passes SB 6349

At 1:45 p.m. today, the House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 6349 the “Delegation of Authority” legislation by a vote of  97-0 onto the Governor. Throughout the 2000 Legislative Session, WSDGWA worked with committee members and staff of  the House and Senate by offering amendments that established strict provisions for the Department of Ecology to follow. The amendments were never adopted by either house.

The good news is this, in June of 2006 the “Delegation of Authority” issue will be revisited as a result of WSDGWA’s involvement. The Legislature intended to put the “Delegation of Authority” into permanent code with no review process, however, WSDGWA was able to convince the legislators the importance of “reviewing such authority”. Therefore, the “Delegation of Authority” program for  well tagging, decommissioning and sealing continue until the new sunset date of June 30, 2006.

[Update as of  July 2001] Governor Locke vetoed the expiration date making the delegation program permanent, “consistent with its proven success and cost-effectiveness,” according to Governor Locke’s veto message.